English

INDIA AND UNITED NATIONS

COUNTER-TERRORISM

India strongly supports all efforts, especially within the purview of the United Nations that strengthen international and regional cooperation in the fight against terrorism. The success in the fight against terrorism goes hand-in-hand with progress in strengthening counter-terrorism cooperation and exchange of information at the international, regional and sub-regional level. The Global Counter Terrorism Strategy agreed by the UN member states in 2006 is a unique and universally agreed strategic framework to counter terrorism.

India is party to the 13 sectoral conventions on terrorism adopted by the UN. With the objective of providing a comprehensive legal framework to combat terrorism, India took the initiative to pilot a draft Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) in 1996. Largely as a result of India’s active pursuance, a draft text of the CCIT emerged in 2007, which is agreeable to most States. But few States still have problem over a few issues, negotiations for the resolution of which are undergoing. India attaches importance to the work undertaken by the Ad-hoc Committee on Terrorism established by the General Assembly towards negotiations of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT). India looks forward to early conclusion of the CCIT. As a member of the Security Council, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN chaired the Security Council Committee on Counter-Terrorism Committee [CTC], the Working Group concerning threats to international peace and security by terrorist acts and the Somalia - Eritrea Sanctions Committee in 2011 - 12.

India also supports the counter - terrorism mechanisms established by UN Security Council Resolutions, including Resolutions 1267 and its successors 1988 and 1989 related to sanctions against Al-Qaeda/Taliban, 1373 (which, inter - alia, established the Counter Terrorism Committee), 1540 ( which addressed non - proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction in this context), and subsequent resolutions that renewed, strengthened or amended these three original resolutions

The setting up of the Counter Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF) in 2010 has provided an institutional framework to support the implementation of the Strategy as well as the harmonization of an integrated counter-terrorism approach within the UN system. An effective and balanced implementation of the United Nations Global Counter Terrorism Strategy requires greater international and regional cooperation. In this context, India also counts on the UN Counter Terrorism Center established within the CTITF Office, to supplement these efforts.

India strongly favours the strengthening of the normative framework at the United Nations to effectively deal with the scourge of terrorism. India stresses the need for expanding the scope of the legal instruments and the enforcement efforts to destroy safe havens for terrorists, their financial flows and support networks and to bring the terrorists to justice. India supports establishment of a coordinator for Counter Terrorism in the UN structure to manage the work of the UN entities engaged in Counter Terrorism matter at the earliest as was recently agreed in the 4th review of the GCTS held in June 2014. India looks forward to CCIT being signed during the 70th anniversary summit of the UN in September 2015.